INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - Barangay Ginebra and Talk 'N Text, powerhouses coming off defeats, clash Wednesday night and struggling sides Coca-Cola and Rain or Shine battle each other for the right to move out of the cellar in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Ginebra-Talk ‘N Text game gets going at 7:30 p.m. with the Gin Kings hoping to bounce back from a manhandling they suffered at the hands of the Sta. Lucia Realtors and the defending champion Tropang Texters seeking to get back on track after stumbling opposite Alaska.

Those losses snapped winning runs for both Ginebra and Talk ‘N Text which are both trying to creep closer to the league-leading Aces and the second-running San Miguel Beermen with the first round concluding at the end of the week.

Asi Taulava will continue to sit it out for the Tigers who clash with the Elasto Painters at 5 p.m. Both squads are seeking to wriggle out of the pits and put themselves in contention when the final phase begins next week.

Rain or Shine, the only squad to have beaten Alaska so far, arrested a six-game slide with a convincing 86-81 victory two weeks ago.

But when the Elasto Painters returned to the floor a couple of nights later, they were back in the same listless state against Purefoods, losing ugly, 69-103.
Rain or Shine actually lost its last two games, counting a no-bearing outing against guest team Smart Gilas.

Ginebra will be coming off a 72-93 loss to Sta. Lucia, but the Gin Kings are expected to be sharper tonight if only for the fact that they are well rested.

Four nights before that Wednesday game against the Realtors, the Kings outsteadied Burger King, 83-79.

Waiting for Caguioa’s return

Mark Caguioa’s return is still being awaited by the Kings and their horde of fans. That leaves most of the scoring load on the shoulders of reigning MVP Jayjay Helterbrand, Ronald Tubid and Eric Menk.

Mac Cardona will be the usual focal point of the Talk ‘N Text offense, which will again be quarterbacked by Jimmy Alapag.

Talk ‘N Text took a 106-110 loss against the Aces last Friday, putting to
naught a magnificent rally from 21 points down in the third period.

That game also saw the ejection of coach Chot Reyes, who incurred two straight technical fouls, one for physical contact on a referee.